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Local soldier killed in Afghanistan

By Amy Banton

Jun 21 2013 12:01 am Jun 21 11:41 am

Alt

A local soldier died in the line of duty in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

U.S. Army Spc. Ember Alt, 21, of Beech Island, was killed along with three other soldiers on Tuesday in Bagram, Afghanistan, during indirect fire when their unit was attacked by enemy forces, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Alt died from wounds suffered from the attack, along with Spc. Robert Ellis, 21, of Kennewick, Wash., Sgt. Justin Johnson, 25, of Hobe Sound, Fla., and Spc. William Moody of Burleson, Texas.

All but Johnson were assigned to the 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 43rd Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson, Colo. Johnson was based out of Fort Eustis, Va.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that militants fired two rockets into the Bagram Air Base, according to The Associated Press.

Alt graduated from Killeen High School in Texas 2009, according to the Killeen Daily Herald. Her last known place of residence was listed as Beech Island.

According to U.S. Army records, Alt joined the service in May 2011. She served as a wheeled vehicle mechanic, and in her short military career was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

This was Alt's first deployment. She had been in Afghanistan since November 2012.

Alt is the fourth service member with local ties to die during the Middle Eastern conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Willie Harley, 48, was killed Oct. 1, 2010, after an improvised explosive device detonated under his vehicle in Afghanistan. Spc. Jason Moski, 24, was a Wagener native who was killed in Iraq in 2005 when he was on foot patrol and an IED went off. Cpl. Matt Dillon, 25, of Aiken, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq on Dec. 11, 2007.

Editor's note: This story has been edited to reflect the correct name of the Killeen Daily Herald.

Amy Banton is the City beat reporter for the Aiken Standard. Originally from Rustburg, Va., she graduated from Randolph Macon Woman's College and has been with the newspaper since 2010.

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